Business Directories

Saudi women 'must uncover faces for security checks'

Riyadh, November 6, 2012

Saudi Arabian authorities have rejected a proposal to allow women to keep their faces covered during security checks, local media reported on Tuesday.

A draft law would have allowed women to continue wearing veils during the checks, and would have required their identity cards to be based on fingerprints instead of photographs, the Saudi Gazette said.

The Shura Council, a consultative body appointed by the king, rejected the plan on Sunday, although it agreed that female security staff should carry out checks on women, the newspaper reported. It did not say who had proposed the law. - Reuters